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Friday, February 28, 2014

Ever
since I learned about the heinous cleaver attack on Ming Pao ex-Editor Kevin
Lau, there’s been this tight knot weighing down on my heart. Prior to this
incident, I had been trying to detach myself little by little from engaging in
writing or speaking about current affairs in Hong Kong due to a daily-deepening
feeling of powerlessness about my hometown’s fast deterioration from a
sophisticated international metropolis into a crass, soulless, xenophobic and
parochial Chinese city. What’s more troubling is the fact that the sea change
has come by involuntarily from Hong Kongers’ standpoint. It has come in the
form of more and more oppressive tactics, either overtly or deviously, being
thrust down Hong Kong’s throat by the Central Government and the submissive
puppet-like Leung Chun Ying administration.

In
recent days, the noose-tightening seems to be reaching an apex.

First
there was the HKTV licensing controversy. Up to now, the Leung government still
hasn’t come up with a shred of logical reason behind its decision not to grant
HKTV, whose boss Ricky Wong is known for his liberal views, the free-to-air TV
license. Meanwhile, the managing director of government’s consultant firm lost
her job for shining a not-so-friendly light on Leung Chun Ying’s public
statement. Was it a coincidence or was it a high-handed maneuver behind the
scene? It’s anyone’s guess.

Then
there came news of Ming Pao replacing its Chief Editor Kevin Lau with a more
docile counterpart from Malaysia, apparently under some kind of political
pressure. [This seems to foreshadow Lau’s unfortunate tragedy and the two
incidents might be linked by a common motive. As for speculation on the motive
behind the vicious attack, please refer to Asia Sentinel’s story on the front
page.]

Then
we heard that a popular, sharp and inquisitive radio talk show host Lee Wai
Ling got abruptly fired from Commercial Radio at a time when the station’s
license is up for renewal.

These
three events were enough to create a sensitive perception within the Hong Kong
media that freedom of the press, as professional journalists understand it, is
teetering on the brink of collapse.

Some
time in between the above incidents, the Leung government, with either support
or order from the Central Government, chose obtusely to pander to the tourism
industry with promises to do anything that would please Mainland tourists
and/or shoppers and to obstinately refuse to control the number of
individual-scheme incoming tourists, despite thundering protests by the Hong
Kong public. The Mainland assumes the stance that it is doing Hong Kong’s
economy a big favor and thus Hong Kongers, instead of whining about congestion,
should really be thankful for such a benevolent act. In other words, Hong
Kongers should bend over backwards to welcome bigger and bigger hordes of
Mainland tourists even if the city is already bursting at the seams in terms of
capacity and their normal lives have been callously disrupted.

When
a spirited few tried to vent their anger over government’s dismissive attitude
by calling Mainlanders names (like “locusts”), it was considered a sacrilegious
sin and even troubled Mr. Chow from EOC to investigate whether racism is
involved (LOL!). Some people have obviously forgotten that Mainlanders were
equally capable of name-calling (like who called whom “dogs”?). So, what’s the
big deal? Why has this innocuous little incident incensed the Central
Government so much that its mouthpiece had to carry on with its tongue-lashing
for several days in a row? The key problem here seems to be that the Mainland
is getting more and more arrogant and condescending towards Hong Kong (because
China is now an economic superpower?), exhibiting a total lack of regard or
respect, and a deliberate misunderstanding, towards Hong Kongers’ feelings,
opinions and views.

Against
such a backdrop, news broke that the mild-mannered and respected media
professional Kevin Lau was viciously attacked in broad daylight with
life-threatening wounds. Any fair-minded person would be disgusted with such
pre-meditated atrocious crime. I, who have kept silent for a while, was enraged
to the point that I had to thrash out my anger on (I was going to say paper,
but then realized I would be posting the text in cyberspace) my blog. There is
no doubt in my mind that there is a “master” behind the perpetrators, whose
motive I would speculate is to gag Lau or to punish him or both. Even putting
aside the issue of press freedom and freedom of expression, this is a blatantly
barbaric act that can’t be tolerated in a civilized and law-abiding society
like Hong Kong (although it is inclining towards its northern neighbor). All
Hong Kongers should unite in sending this message across and in pressing the
Hong Kong Police to find and bring the real culprits to justice.

If
evidence does point to our freedom of expression and of the press being the
epicenter of the wicked crime, I would say to Hong Kongers: “Please don’t
pretend to be asleep any longer. It’s time to wake up voluntarily and defend
your own rights. No one else can do it for you.”

My
thoughts go out to Mr. Lau and his family members and I wish Mr. Lau a full and
speedy recovery.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

This
is a factual and blood-curdling slideshow of the eighteen days of horrifying
fighting against the Japanese in Hong Kong in the not-too-distant past.

I belong to the post-50s group who were lucky enough to be born just after the
war. While I was growing up, my mother and relatives belonging to her
generation seldom talked about their war-time experiences. It was only recently
that I heard about some traumatic personal stories told by a primary school
teacher of mine, which ignited my interest in reading books about war-time Hong
Kong. Reading "Not the Slightest Chance" had a bone-chilling effect
on me, and it makes me want to read more on the subject.

In
sum, it was a 60,000 (Japanese) against 14,000 (HK Garrison) combat, with the
latter comprising soldiers of all nationality: the British Middlesex Regiment,
the Royal Scots, the Punjabis (India), the Rajputs (India), the Royal Rifles of
Canada (Quebec), the Winnipeg Grenadiers (Manitoba) and the Hong Kong Volunteer
Defence Corps. consisting of British, Chinese locals, Free French, Russians,
Scandinavians and Americans.

The valiant men and women who sacrificed their lives (some suffering atrocious
tortures in enemies' hands) either in action during the war or later in
concentration camps in the defense of the Hong Kong population deserve our and
our past generation's utmost and lasting respect and commemoration. The fact
that the Hong Kong garrison (or at least the high-ranking officers) were well aware
that Hong Kong was in an untenable position, but nonetheless resisted the
Japanese invasion with dauntless courage, makes this part of Hong Kong's
history especially poignant.

The
book just makes me ponder as to why the Chinese Communists and Nationalists
were conspicuously absent from the scene of the battleground. Hopefully other
books about the 1941 battle that I’m going to read will shine a light.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

"The
story is set in colonial Hong Kong and spans four decades from the late 1940s.

Prior
to October 1987, Wendy has her fill of bad experiences in her childhood and youth
until she meets Tony, a Macanese magnate, and becomes his protégé. Despite her ascending
career, her romance with Edward, her childhood playmate and Diana’s kid
brother, suffers constant sabotage by Diana, who is also Wendy’s archrival by
design. Meanwhile, Diana breezes through life and covets the throne of her
father’s (Mr. Lee’s) property empire, but her heiress dream proves elusive.
Her bad choice of lovers causes her more than a fortune and the love of her
life turns out to be her cruelest life lesson.

In October 1987, Wendy and Diana finally come to a face-off when Wendy and Tony
act in concert trying to take over Mr. Lee’s company, which attempt is foiled
by Diana on a tip-off from a snitch. This reduces Wendy to ruins. At the same
time, Diana discovers a startling secret about her mother which could change
her fortunes forever."

Hong Kong Blogger BigLychee (formerly Hemlock) mentioned this in his blog post of January 23, 2014:-

“Don’t
be fooled by the girly cover. Set in the 1950s-80s era, it’s (judging by the
first few chapters) a tale of good versus evil, in which the rags-to-riches
heroine works her way up into a position where she might be able to turn one of
Hong Kong’s notoriously greedy, cheating real-estate empires into a force for
social good, only to come up against a property tycoon’s spoilt daughter, who
apparently comes to some sort of sticky end – hopefully, vividly portrayed and
extremely unpleasant. It’s sort of Land and the Ruling Class: the Movie.
There is possibly a dash of autobiography, as per a first novel; there are also
plentiful resemblances to actual people, living or dead, which are of course
entirely coincidental. Strictly for hard-core fans of Hongkongiana, obviously,
though if/when it appears in Chinese, it could strike a chord like its
non-fiction predecessor.”

I'll be posting an excerpt of the novel soon! Keep an eye on this blog!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

With the help of free online tools available at the CreateSpace Independent Publishing platform (an Amazon company), I was able to create a paperback version of my novel, which has just been launched on Amazon.com (U.S.), Amazon.co.uk (U.K.), Amazon.fr (France), Amazon.de (Germany) and other Amazon European sites. Obviously, print-on-demand technology has been instrumental in helping debut fiction authors who are constantly crowded out of the market to get published at no cost.

In about six to eight weeks' time, the paperback version will be accessible by bookstores, online retailers, libraries and academic institutions.

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About Me

Always fascinated with iconic but unsung females in Chinese history and legends, I cherish a dream of bringing them to the page. Chinese history and poetry, Jin Yong novels, English, French and Russian classics have colored my life and imagination.